Confessio
by Flavvie
Summary: Momo tries to figure out why Kyoko and her father are fighting all the time, and deal with their family being slowly ripped apart.


The phone rang. She answered it. "Hi, this is Momo Sakura."

"Oh, Momo," said the female voice on the other end, "you're Kyoko's younger sister, right? I'm her friend, Mami Tomoe. May I speak to her?"

"Sorry, she's not home right now."

"Oh," Mami hesitated for a moment. "How has she been recently? I haven't seen her in awhile."

"Well, she hasn't been home much. I think she got into an argument with Dad, but no one's talked to me about it. It's been lonely without her." She tried her best to hold back tears. It hadn't just been lonely, the whole house was filled with tension, and on the rare occasions she did get to see her sister or father, a fight always broke out.

Mami must have sensed that something was wrong, because she said "If you need to talk to someone about what's been going on, you're welcome to come over to my apartment for tea."

"Thanks, but I don't think Dad would let me," Momo said.

"Okay. Well if you see Kyoko, please tell her I called."

"I'll go find her right now," Momo said, hanging up. "I'm going out for awhile," she told her mother before heading out.

"Make sure to come back by dinner time," her mom said.

* * *

><p>She didn't know where her sister had gone, but she decided that the market would be a good place to start looking. On her way there, she ran into one of the parishioners who attended her father's services. "Oh, it's one of the Sakura children," he said. "There haven't been many sermons in awhile; is your father planning anything soon?"<p>

"I don't think so," Momo said.

"That's a shame," the parishioner commented. "His words are so brilliant that it's liking hearing the voice of God Himself. He was even wise enough to see that Kyoko is a witch."

"What?" Momo asked, taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"Did you not hear? In his latest sermon, the pastor explained to us how Kyoko is a witch who made a contract with the devil. I haven't seen her since then. Good riddance, if you ask me."

"No, that can't be right. Dad would never say something like that! Why would you even believe something so horrible?"

"It may be horrible, but it's the truth," the parishioner said. "As a man of God, your father must always speak the truth, no matter how awful it may be."

Momo shook her head in horror and ran away, hoping that maybe if she ran fast enough she could outrun what she had just heard and make it somehow cease to be reality.

When she stopped to catch her breath, Momo noticed that her surroundings had changed into something otherworldly. Rather than buildings and alleyways, she was surrounded by an open sky filled with twinkling stars. In front of her was a long, narrow road curving off into infinity. This road was floating in the middle of the air with nothing to hold it up, and yet she didn't find this as odd or alarming as she should have, since the whole landscape had a dreamlike character to it. It looked as if it were part of a painting rather than the real world, and if she focused on any particular spot it would reveal a lack of detail and natural texture.

As she took in her surroundings, she heard a flapping noise, and looked up to see an array of odd white winged creatures with black faces and two white horns flying towards her. "What's going on?" she asked as she tried to figure out what kind of things they could be.

The creatures responded by stretching their horns out and flattening themselves until they became double pronged spear blades, and shot themselves straight at her. Momo screamed and braced for impact, but just then a long chain knocked them out of the sky.

"Momo! What are you doing here? Are you alright?" Kyoko asked, landing next to her. "Come on, let's get out of here," she said when she didn't respond. Kyoko picked Momo up and hoisted her over her shoulder, dodging another set of familiars that arrived to chase them and sprinting out of the barrier. Once they'd made it a safe distance away, Kyoko set Momo down.

"Kyoko? What was that place? And why are you dressed like that?" Momo asked. "Are you actually a witch like they said you are?" Her eyes widened with anxiety at the possibility.

"No, I'm a magical girl," Kyoko explained. "I fight witches. That place you were in was a barrier the witch uses to hide itself."

"Oh," Momo said, not really understanding.

"I guess I should probably tell you," Kyoko thought aloud. "Awhile ago, back when we never had any food and no one was listening to dad, this magical cat came to me and said that I could make any wish I wanted if I became a magical girl and fought against witches. Of course here I thought my prayers had finally been answered and this was my chance to help fight despair like dad always talked about, so I went right for it. Turns out I made the wrong choice, and now dad thinks that the only reason people were listening to him was because of magic, so I must be some kind of witch."

"Is that why you're always so mad at each other?"

Kyoko sighed. "I made a mistake," she said. "I thought that I could make dad happy and save our family, but now I'm only bringing despair. I was an idiot."

"Kyoko, I'm scared," Momo admitted. "I don't want you and dad to fight. It makes you both act so depressed. Your friend Mami called today because she's worried about you, and I'm worried about you too. Please find a way to make things up with dad."

"If only it were that simple."

Their conversation was interrupted as a parishioner spotted them and pointed at Kyoko. "Hey, it's that witch!" he shouted. "Get out of here!" More people soon joined in shouting at her, and some of them began to grab torches.

"Don't worry about me; I can handle myself. All you need to worry about is not making the same mistakes I did," Kyoko told Momo as she quickly retreated from the area.

* * *

><p>Momo tried to wrap her head around everything as she walked back home. Was Kyoko really a magical girl like she had said? What did that even mean? What should she think about her wish? It sounded like Kyoko had just done what she thought was right, and she realized that she probably would have done the same thing, but she wasn't sure whether that made it okay. She had no idea what to make of any of it. She started walking in the direction of Mami's apartment to talk to her about it. Kyoko had always talked very highly of Mami, and she seemed wise from the times that she had been over, so she'd probably be able to help her understand what was going on. Then again, it was starting to get late, and she needed to be home for dinner. Taking a deep breath, she turned around and went home.<p>

Her mom had just finished making dinner when she got back. "Thanks for the food," she mumbled as she sat down and began to eat in silence.

"Will Kyoko be joining us today?" her mom asked as she sat at the table with her.

"I don't think so. She's probably out late again. Dad's not eating with us either?"

"No," her mom sighed, "he's been refusing to leave his room again." Her voice dropped to a low whisper. "I feel guilty saying this, but it's almost more peaceful when he's not around. When he shuts himself away like this, I miss him dearly, and it's easy to remember how he used to be, but when he comes out I have to deal with what he's become." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be burdening you with stuff like this. I'm your mother; I need to stay strong for you."

"Don't worry Mom," Momo reassured her. "Dad and Kyoko are good people; they'll work it out. We just need to have faith."

"And now my daughter is acting stronger than I am. But thank you; you're right."

After finishing her dinner, Momo decided that in light of what she had heard from Kyoko, she would talk to her father and see what he had to say about it. Building up her courage, she hesitantly walked to her dad's room and tapped on his door.

"Come in," he mumbled, voice devoid of emotion. She stepped inside, keeping her distance from him.

"Dad, why are you mad at Kyoko? Why were you saying that she was a witch?" she asked. With a sigh, he turned to face her. He was a complete mess. His hair stuck out in odd shapes, and he had considerably less of it than he'd had yesterday. His eyes were dull with despair, and he reeked of alcohol. The desk behind him was a chaotic pile of empty bottles and ripped up sermon notes, with his old bible sitting on top with pages torn out and a kitchen knife buried in its cover.

"Because I failed her," he answered. "She made a deal with the devil, and I didn't do anything to stop it. In fact, the only reason people started coming back to my church was because she put them under a spell. All their faith was a lie."

"But Kyoko's not a witch!" Momo insisted. "She told me all about what happened. She says she's a magical girl, and that she was only trying to help make things better because she thought God had given her an opportunity!"

"Don't let her fill your head with those lies," her father said. "I've seen what that wish of hers did. It controlled the minds of the parishioners and made them believe anything I say. Even if I preach that everyone should just give into despair, they listen. I could tell them to all give up hope and kill themselves and they'd do it without a second thought, because her magic took away their ability to think. Does that sound like the work of God to you?"

Momo's eyes widened in horror. "Is that true?"

He nodded solemnly.

"But you can't just give up! It's not like she did that on purpose. Her intentions were good, so she can still be saved, right? And everything can go back to normal. We just need to have hope, like you always say in your sermons."

"Don't give me that nonsense," her father said with a dry laugh. "My sermons were nothing but delusions. No one ever believed them."

"I believe them!" Momo objected. "I always thought that your sermons were-"

"Shut up! I've seen more than enough proof that God doesn't reward those who have hope. There is no God; there is only despair."

"Dad, please don't say that," Momo sobbed. Her words only seemed to enrage him, and he ripped the kitchen knife out of the bible and lashed out at her.

* * *

><p>It all happened in a blur: the sharp pain from the knife cutting through her skin, her mom's screaming, her dad's shouting, the crackling of fire, and then finally silence. Momo was lying on the floor, looking up at her father's body hanging from a noose on the ceiling, his head lit with flames. A pool of blood drenched her clothes and surrounded her. Her mother's lifeless body laid next to her, her eyes staring blankly upwards.<p>

"It doesn't have to be this way." A voice sounded in her head. "You have the power to change this ending. All you have to do is make a contract with me and become a magical girl."

Momo turned her head to see who was talking, pain shooting through her body at the movement. An odd looking white cat with two long extra ears hanging out of its normal ones stood in front of her. "Kyoko told me about you," Momo murmured weakly. "I'm not gonna do it. You're messenger from the devil. You caused all of this."

"I didn't cause any of this; it was Kyoko's wish that betrayed her. All I did was grant it."

"I don't care! I've seen the damage these contracts can do. I'd just be making things worse. Besides, even if this is the end for us, I still have faith. Kyoko will keep to dad's message even if he lost hope in it, and when she goes to heaven, I'll be there waiting for her."

"I will never understand the logic of humans," Kyuubey said. "But if that's really what you want, I can't force you."

Momo watched Kyuubey leave, and then closed her eyes. With the last few minutes of her life she gave a prayer. She prayed that her father's message wouldn't die with him, she prayed that her mother would be able to rest in peace, and she prayed that Kyoko would have the strength to continue on and find her path even after such a tragedy.


End file.
